Are You Ready For This?

    Imagine that you are arriving at school and your friends run to you saying that there was going to be a test first period. For the very few minutes you have before class begins you spend your time rummaging through your backpack searching for a No.2 pencil. The bell rings and you race toward your classroom your heart filled with anxiety. Your mind is racing through all the material that you've learned that school year except nothing you learned will be on the test. You see this test doesn't require a No.2 pencil or studying, it's a drug test and you either pass or fail.

    Schools across the United States are demanding students to take random drug tests. These drug tests are often conducted upon those involved in school athletic teams or other extra curricular activities. Although drug testing is mandatory if a student is suspected of doing any drugs but schools are now conducting drug tests without a cause of suspicion. Now with that in mind, do you believe that the action toward school safety has gone too far?

    Schools have not only done mandatory drug testing on random students, but they have also done strip body searches, backpack/locker searches, and book censorship toward books that contain the discussion of homosexuality or premarital sex. For instance, a school in Maryland forced 18 random students to have their urine tested on the school's auditorium stage. A school in upstate roamed the hallways lined with lockers. Schools have also censored books that contained material on homosexuality and premarital sex. Schools have also undergone extreme disciplinary actions toward students who didn't meet the school dress code. For instance a student was expelled from school because he failed to wear the proper school attire, which was black, or navy pants with a white shirt, three times.

    Students are not only speaking out against drug testing but also against the banning of females and minority from after school clubs. Schools have also permitted students to form clubs that speak out against homosexuality. To many, this situation may not be a big deal but for those who are gay or have gay friends or gay relatives, these clubs may appear threatening. The fact that the school allowed students to form a club that promoted hate toward homosexuality is wrong and in morale. If the situation were changed to a club being founded against a certain race, would school officials approve the idea and will the community? A school should be an environment where students feel safe around his/her peers and safe to be themselves.

Here are some links:

ACLU